German Auto Industry Confidence Improves, Outlook Uncertain: Ifo
(RTTNews) - German automakers sentiment turned positive at the end of 2022, but the overall business situation was strained for both manufacturers and suppliers, and expectations for the coming months remain cautious, survey results from the ifo Institute showed on Wednesday.
The auto industry index rose to 1.5 in December from -1.5 in November, the Munich-based institute said.
This clearly indicates that confidence is returning to automakers, as demand declined less than in November, while the order situation stabilized and they were significantly more satisfied with their order books, the think tank said.
"However, automakers continue to suffer from a shortage of intermediate products," said Prof. Oliver Falck, director of the ifo Center for Industrial Organization and New Technologies.
Consequently, they were unable to process some orders. But they expect to be able to produce more in the months ahead.
As late as September, Germany's automotive industry was still expecting earnings to plummet in the second half of the year, ifo said.
In the case of suppliers, the current situation and business expectations remained negative in December. However, the supply of intermediate products eased only marginally.
In December, 55 percent of suppliers still reported problems with raw materials deliveries, which was the lowest percentage since this question was first asked in August 2021, Ifo said.
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